Below is an image sent to and leaked by CtechCN.com. What it shows – as you can tell by the dual LED flash near the camera – is an iPhone 5S. Is it black/slate or is it black/graphite? I don’t know. But what’s of major interest here is the legal regulatory markings on the back. While we in the West will normally have the FCC logo stuck on to show it’s been approved by the organization, in China they have their own regulatory body: CCC.

On the image below, if you look carefully you’ll see it:

But just in case you can’t. I put it through a photo editor to boost saturation, and change a few levels to make it a little clearer:

The official logo:

What all this says is that Apple is preparing to launch the iPhone 5S in China very soon. It would go along nicely with recent rumors that China will be among the first countries to receive the new iPhones when they’re released on September 20th. Which carriers in China is another matter entirely. With no official announcement of a deal between China Mobile and Apple, it’s more likely that China Telecom is the network operator set release the next generation iPhones.

About Cam Bunton

Cam Bunton, Managing Editor. A film school graduate from the University of Cumbria, UK, Cam's past life was in mobile phone retail. His passion for cell phones got him in to that industry, and then in to this one. A family man with two kids, he somehow manages to balance his TiP duties with family life and a runaway Twitter addiction. He covers news, device comparisons, accessory and app reviews - pretty much anything and everything. Follow him on twitter: @TiP_Cam

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